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DENVER (KDVR) — The case against a man accused of stealing $9 million in cryptocurrency has been dropped, court records show.
Mark Shin was charged with theft, cybercrime theft and money laundering. Prosecutors say he took advantage of a software update that allowed him to mint his own cryptocurrency.
A judge on Friday granted the state’s motion to dismiss the case.
“Further prosecution of the above-captioned case is no longer necessary in that the People feel that the ends of justice would not be further served by continued prosecution of the Defendant because it is in the best interests of justice,” John Kellner, the 18th Judicial District attorney, wrote in the motion.
FOX31 has reached out to Kellner’s office for more information on what led to the dismissal.
Closing arguments in Shin’s case were heard on May 31, but the trial ended in a hung jury. The case was set to be retried on Nov. 8.
Shin accused of minting personal cryptocurrency
According to a grand jury indictment obtained by the Problem Solvers, Shin discovered “an unintended vulnerability in the Revision 9 update” of the ICON Nation cryptocurrency, a rival to the better-known Bitcoin.
Prosecutors say Shin took minted the cryptocurrency from his home computer on Aug. 22, 2020. He’s accused of taking advantage of the software update that allowed users to mint their own ICON coins, or tokens.
Prosecutors argued during closing arguments that Shin knew exactly how ICON worked and that he did repeated thieving.
But Shin’s defense argued that it was an unprecedented situation and their client did not intend to commit a crime. The defense also said Shin wasn’t the only person who realized there was an issue with the bug and that others used the code as well.
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